Constitution

The name of the club shall be the Stoke City Southern Supporters' Club.

2. Aim

The aims and objectives of the Club shall be:

(a) to support and encourage Stoke City Football Club

(b) to promote the interest of Stoke City supporters in Southern England

(c) to foster sportsmanship, social intercourse and friendly competition between our own members and supporters of other Football Clubs.

3. Administration

(a) The Committee shall be the governing body of the Club and shall consist of a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and no more than six other members. The Committee shall be elected each year at an Annual General Meeting (AGM).

(b) Should a vacancy occur on the Committee, the Committee shall have the power to co-opt a member of the Supporters' Club for the remainder of the year.

(c) The Committee shall meet as and when necessary but during the football season not less than once every two months. The details of such meetings will be notified in advance by the Secretary to all Committee members and at least five members must be present to constitute a quorum. The minutes of any meetings will be made available to any member upon request.

(d) Should any Committee member not attend three consecutive meetings without due cause, then the Committee shall have the power to expel that member from office for the remainder of that year.

(e) In addition to the aforementioned posts, the Committee shall also have the power to appoint from time to time as required, a President, Vice-Presidents and Honorary Life Members. Such appointed members, although having the right to attend any general or Committee meeting, shall have no voting rights at such a meeting.

(f) The AGM shall be held at a place and date to be determined by the Committee. The Secretary shall give notice of the AGM at least twenty-one days in advance to all members. Motions shall be sent to the Secretary at least twenty-one days in advance of the AGM to enable any rule-change motions to be sent to the entire membership.

4. Finance

(a) The Treasurer shall maintain on behalf of the club a main account, cheques in respect of which shall be signed by the Treasurer and any other one Committee member.

(b) In addition to the above, the Treasurer, when requested to do so by the Committee, will also open and maintain any other deposit or building society account for the benefit of the club.

(c) Any other accounts shall be opened by the express permission of the Committee and shall be the responsibility of a nominated member who will be answerable to the Treasurer.

(d) The Treasurer shall prepare an income and expenditure report for presentation to the membership at the AGM.

(e) The subscription to the club shall be reviewed at the AGM and rates set for full, family and concessionary membership.

(f) The books of the club shall be available for inspection by any member providing that at least fourteen days notice in writing is given to the Treasurer.

(g) Upon dissolution of the club, all monies and assets still held will be assigned to the trust of Stoke City Football Club Limited until such time as a new club is constitutionally restructured.

5. Membership & General

(a) Membership of the club shall be open to anyone who lives in Southern England but this does not preclude continuing membership for members who subsequently move. Membership shall be renewed annually from 1 August.

(b) No person shall be accepted into membership of the club until they have read and agreed to abide by the constitution and travel rules.

(c) All members, including family members, shall be entitled to one vote at the AGM with the exception of junior members, i.e. those persons under sixteen years of age on 1 August of that year. The Chairman may exercise a casting vote.

(d) The Committee shall have the power to reprimand, suspend or expel from the membership any member who infringes any rule or whose conduct renders him or her unfit for membership. A member shall have the right of appeal, in person, against any such decision by the Committee.

(e) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at the request of no less than ten members by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of at least one month.

(f) The constitution and rules of the club may be changed only at a General Meeting and by a two-thirds majority of those members present. The minimum number of members present at an AGM to constitute a quorum will be fifteen.

(g) The club shall recognise long and meritorious service to the club by any of its members by presenting an award at the AGM to the member, selected by the Committee and agreed both by the member concerned and by the membership.